PitchBook University Rankings: Undergraduate Founders 2026
PitchBook University Rankings: Undergraduate Founders 2026 by PitchBook: 100 universities ranked, led by University of California, Berkeley. Full list with...
- Publisher
- PitchBook
- Published
- September 1, 2026
- On this page
- 100 of 101 ranked
- Method
- Data
- Reliability
- Grade B
UC Berkeley led with 2,380 undergraduate alumni founders; Stanford (1,997) and Harvard (1,697) followed; Berkeley describes this as its fourth year at the top (Forbes). Waterloo rose from 18th to 7th, the first Canadian school in the top 10, and eight IITs appear on the list.
Window moved to Jan. 1, 2015 through Aug. 1, 2026; more than 222,000 founders analyzed.
The full list
| Rank | Name | Since 2025 |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | University of California, BerkeleyFounders: 2,380 · Companies: 2,155 · Capital raised usd bn: 139.4 | No change |
| 2 | Stanford UniversityFounders: 1,997 · Companies: 1,787 · Capital raised usd bn: 252.7 | No change |
| 3 | Harvard UniversityFounders: 1,697 · Companies: 1,532 · Capital raised usd bn: 148.9 | No change |
| 4 | Cornell UniversityFounders: 1,541 · Companies: 1,436 · Capital raised usd bn: 89.5 | Up 2 |
| 5 | Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)Founders: 1,525 · Companies: 1,342 · Capital raised usd bn: 111.2 | No change |
| 6 | University of PennsylvaniaFounders: 1,466 · Companies: 1,354 · Capital raised usd bn: 309.5 | Down 2 |
| 7 | University of WaterlooFounders: 1,303 · Companies: 1,006 · Capital raised usd bn: 62.7 | Up 11 |
| 8 | University of Michigan, Ann ArborFounders: 1,085 · Companies: 1,012 · Capital raised usd bn: 48.3 | Up 1 |
| 9 | Tel Aviv UniversityFounders: 1,084 · Companies: 918 · Capital raised usd bn: 46.7 | Down 2 |
| 10 | University of Texas, AustinFounders: 1,036 · Companies: 948 · Capital raised usd bn: 34.7 | Down 2 |
| 11 | University of Illinois, Urbana-ChampaignFounders: 1,032 · Companies: 936 · Capital raised usd bn: 51.1 | No change |
| 12 | Technion - Israel Institute of TechnologyFounders: 1,019 · Companies: 864 · Capital raised usd bn: 45.5 | Down 2 |
| 13 | Yale UniversityFounders: 887 · Companies: 825 · Capital raised usd bn: 55.5 | Down 1 |
| 14 | Princeton UniversityFounders: 845 · Companies: 792 · Capital raised usd bn: 78.5 | Up 1 |
| 15 | University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA)Founders: 840 · Companies: 807 · Capital raised usd bn: 32.6 | Down 2 |
| 16 | Columbia UniversityFounders: 829 · Companies: 784 · Capital raised usd bn: 34.5 | Down 2 |
| 17 | University of TorontoFounders: 808 · Companies: 737 · Capital raised usd bn: 53.9 | No change |
| 18 | University of Wisconsin, MadisonFounders: 802 · Companies: 724 · Capital raised usd bn: 50.2 | Up 9 |
| 19 | New York UniversityFounders: 799 · Companies: 753 · Capital raised usd bn: 29.7 | Up 4 |
| 20 | University of Southern California (USC)Founders: 791 · Companies: 744 · Capital raised usd bn: 43 | Down 4 |
| 21 | Duke UniversityFounders: 790 · Companies: 755 · Capital raised usd bn: 45.4 | Down 1 |
| 22 | Indian Institute of Technology, BombayFounders: 756 · Companies: 590 · Capital raised usd bn: 33.6 | Down 3 |
| 23 | McGill UniversityFounders: 721 · Companies: 662 · Capital raised usd bn: 30.3 | Down 1 |
| =24 | Northwestern UniversityFounders: 703 · Companies: 650 · Capital raised usd bn: 33.2 | Down 3 |
| =24 | Brown UniversityFounders: 703 · Companies: 654 · Capital raised usd bn: 51.1 | No change |
| 26 | Tsinghua UniversityFounders: 678 · Companies: 628 · Capital raised usd bn: 75.5 | Down 1 |
| 27 | Indian Institute of Technology, DelhiFounders: 640 · Companies: 546 · Capital raised usd bn: 55.7 | Down 1 |
| 28 | University of Virginia, CharlottesvilleFounders: 599 · Companies: 562 · Capital raised usd bn: 47.9 | Up 3 |
| 29 | Hebrew UniversityFounders: 598 · Companies: 523 · Capital raised usd bn: 22.9 | Up 1 |
| 30 | Carnegie Mellon UniversityFounders: 594 · Companies: 550 · Capital raised usd bn: 30.1 | Down 2 |
| 31 | University of Washington, SeattleFounders: 587 · Companies: 536 · Capital raised usd bn: 204.8 | Up 1 |
| 32 | Brigham Young UniversityFounders: 585 · Companies: 486 · Capital raised usd bn: 14.6 | Down 3 |
| 33 | Georgia Institute of TechnologyFounders: 568 · Companies: 504 · Capital raised usd bn: 18.6 | No change |
| =34 | Dartmouth CollegeFounders: 549 · Companies: 510 · Capital raised usd bn: 29.9 | Up 1 |
| =34 | Pennsylvania State University (Penn State)Founders: 549 · Companies: 524 · Capital raised usd bn: 23.4 | No change |
| 36 | Western UniversityFounders: 548 · Companies: 491 · Capital raised usd bn: 11.8 | New |
| 37 | Boston UniversityFounders: 547 · Companies: 526 · Capital raised usd bn: 26.9 | Up 1 |
| =38 | University of Maryland, College ParkFounders: 541 · Companies: 519 · Capital raised usd bn: 18.5 | Down 2 |
| =38 | University of California, San DiegoFounders: 541 · Companies: 515 · Capital raised usd bn: 21.3 | Down 1 |
| 40 | University of Colorado, BoulderFounders: 530 · Companies: 506 · Capital raised usd bn: 16.8 | Down 1 |
| 41 | University of North Carolina, Chapel HillFounders: 502 · Companies: 466 · Capital raised usd bn: 11.6 | No change |
| 42 | Vanderbilt UniversityFounders: 474 · Companies: 460 · Capital raised usd bn: 14.9 | Up 21 |
| 43 | University of British ColumbiaFounders: 472 · Companies: 415 · Capital raised usd bn: 9.3 | Up 1 |
| 44 | Purdue UniversityFounders: 462 · Companies: 433 · Capital raised usd bn: 17.8 | Down 2 |
| =45 | Indiana University, BloomingtonFounders: 455 · Companies: 438 · Capital raised usd bn: 12.3 | Up 12 |
| =45 | Georgetown UniversityFounders: 455 · Companies: 443 · Capital raised usd bn: 29.5 | No change |
| 47 | National University of SingaporeFounders: 454 · Companies: 383 · Capital raised usd bn: 11.7 | Down 4 |
| 48 | Indian Institute of Technology, MadrasFounders: 447 · Companies: 399 · Capital raised usd bn: 23 | Down 2 |
| 49 | Indian Institute of Technology, KharagpurFounders: 434 · Companies: 358 · Capital raised usd bn: 23.2 | Down 2 |
| 50 | Indian Institute of Technology, KanpurFounders: 428 · Companies: 363 · Capital raised usd bn: 21.2 | Down 1 |
| =51 | Reichman UniversityFounders: 422 · Companies: 356 · Capital raised usd bn: 14.7 | Down 4 |
| =51 | University of Florida, GainesvilleFounders: 422 · Companies: 391 · Capital raised usd bn: 19.3 | No change |
| =51 | University of OxfordFounders: 422 · Companies: 405 · Capital raised usd bn: 19.9 | Down 1 |
| 54 | Johns Hopkins UniversityFounders: 411 · Companies: 384 · Capital raised usd bn: 19.9 | Down 1 |
| 55 | University of CambridgeFounders: 405 · Companies: 388 · Capital raised usd bn: 20.6 | Down 1 |
| 56 | Ben Gurion UniversityFounders: 402 · Companies: 363 · Capital raised usd bn: 14.8 | Down 4 |
| 57 | University of ChicagoFounders: 401 · Companies: 377 · Capital raised usd bn: 37.3 | Down 1 |
| =58 | University of California, Santa BarbaraFounders: 383 · Companies: 370 · Capital raised usd bn: 15.4 | Up 3 |
| =58 | Peking UniversityFounders: 383 · Companies: 363 · Capital raised usd bn: 48.5 | Down 4 |
| 60 | Arizona State University, TempeFounders: 368 · Companies: 348 · Capital raised usd bn: 10.2 | Down 2 |
| 61 | Northeastern UniversityFounders: 367 · Companies: 345 · Capital raised usd bn: 12.5 | Down 2 |
| 62 | Delhi University, IndiaFounders: 366 · Companies: 350 · Capital raised usd bn: 13.7 | Up 3 |
| 63 | Washington UniversityFounders: 365 · Companies: 337 · Capital raised usd bn: 21.7 | Down 3 |
| 64 | University of SydneyFounders: 362 · Companies: 344 · Capital raised usd bn: 12.3 | Up 18 |
| 65 | University of Minnesota, Twin CitiesFounders: 358 · Companies: 334 · Capital raised usd bn: 10.4 | Up 10 |
| =66 | University of California, DavisFounders: 356 · Companies: 342 · Capital raised usd bn: 10.7 | Down 4 |
| =66 | Monash UniversityFounders: 356 · Companies: 329 · Capital raised usd bn: 6.3 | Up 5 |
| 68 | Tufts UniversityFounders: 352 · Companies: 340 · Capital raised usd bn: 17.8 | Down 1 |
| 69 | University of Notre DameFounders: 350 · Companies: 324 · Capital raised usd bn: 8.9 | Up 3 |
| 70 | University of Massachusetts, AmherstFounders: 348 · Companies: 342 · Capital raised usd bn: 11.4 | New |
| 71 | Ohio State UniversityFounders: 346 · Companies: 324 · Capital raised usd bn: 8.9 | Down 7 |
| 72 | University of New South WalesFounders: 345 · Companies: 316 · Capital raised usd bn: 7.9 | Up 22 |
| 73 | Seoul National UniversityFounders: 343 · Companies: 301 · Capital raised usd bn: 11.8 | Down 4 |
| 74 | University of MumbaiFounders: 339 · Companies: 316 · Capital raised usd bn: 12.9 | Down 8 |
| 75 | Trinity College DublinFounders: 334 · Companies: 310 · Capital raised usd bn: 8.2 | Down 5 |
| 76 | University of MelbourneFounders: 323 · Companies: 297 · Capital raised usd bn: 11.1 | Down 8 |
| 77 | Boston CollegeFounders: 321 · Companies: 305 · Capital raised usd bn: 11.9 | Down 4 |
| 78 | Queen's UniversityFounders: 319 · Companies: 292 · Capital raised usd bn: 11.9 | No change |
| 79 | Texas A&M UniversityFounders: 317 · Companies: 295 · Capital raised usd bn: 9.8 | Down 3 |
| 80 | University of Arizona, TucsonFounders: 303 · Companies: 288 · Capital raised usd bn: 14.4 | Down 7 |
| 81 | California Polytechnic UniversityFounders: 300 · Companies: 282 · Capital raised usd bn: 9.7 | Up 1 |
| 82 | Emory UniversityFounders: 297 · Companies: 290 · Capital raised usd bn: 9.1 | Down 4 |
| 83 | London School of EconomicsFounders: 296 · Companies: 284 · Capital raised usd bn: 9.7 | Down 3 |
| 84 | State University of New York (SUNY)Founders: 293 · Companies: 290 · Capital raised usd bn: 8.7 | No change |
| 85 | Imperial College LondonFounders: 284 · Companies: 271 · Capital raised usd bn: 9.4 | Up 10 |
| 86 | Rutgers UniversityFounders: 280 · Companies: 269 · Capital raised usd bn: 8.4 | Down 5 |
| 87 | California State UniversityFounders: 276 · Companies: 269 · Capital raised usd bn: 34.7 | Up 1 |
| 88 | Virginia TechFounders: 268 · Companies: 258 · Capital raised usd bn: 7.5 | Down 1 |
| =89 | Michigan State UniversityFounders: 267 · Companies: 257 · Capital raised usd bn: 7 | Down 4 |
| =89 | University of California, IrvineFounders: 267 · Companies: 252 · Capital raised usd bn: 12.8 | Up 1 |
| =91 | Bar-Ilan UniversityFounders: 265 · Companies: 248 · Capital raised usd bn: 11.8 | Down 1 |
| =91 | Birla Institute of Technology and Science (BITS Pilani)Founders: 265 · Companies: 230 · Capital raised usd bn: 7.7 | Down 5 |
| 93 | George Washington UniversityFounders: 261 · Companies: 252 · Capital raised usd bn: 6.7 | Down 3 |
| 94 | Copenhagen Business SchoolFounders: 260 · Companies: 235 · Capital raised usd bn: 8 | Down 4 |
| 95 | Rensselaer PolytechnicFounders: 257 · Companies: 241 · Capital raised usd bn: 10.9 | Up 3 |
| =96 | University of CalgaryFounders: 249 · Companies: 218 · Capital raised usd bn: 18.5 | Up 4 |
| =96 | Syracuse UniversityFounders: 249 · Companies: 240 · Capital raised usd bn: 10.1 | Down 7 |
| 98 | York UniversityFounders: 248 · Companies: 231 · Capital raised usd bn: 4.6 | Up 2 |
| 99 | University College DublinFounders: 242 · Companies: 225 · Capital raised usd bn: 3.8 | Down 3 |
| 100 | Zhejiang University (Zheda)Founders: 241 · Companies: 234 · Capital raised usd bn: 153.5 | New |
This list is reproduced as PitchBook published it, from a secondary source. Names are shown as printed. The ranking belongs to its publisher.
Sources and known limits
A reviewed date is not available for this page.